Acromag, a company based in Michigan and specialized in the industrial I/O market, has recently launched ACEX4041 COM Express Type 10 Mini-ITX carrier card which supports up to four of the company’s AcroPack mini-PCIe I/O modules.
ACEX4041 COM Express Type 10 Mini-ITX Carrier Card
The Mini-ITX form factor of the board enables it to interfaces four plug-in AcroPack I/O modules to an Intel Atom E3950 (Apollo Lake) CPU module with provisions for both M.2 and SATA SSD data storage and a variety of peripherals on-board.
ACEX4041 specifications:
- SoM Compatibility
- Electrical and mechanical interface for industry-standard COM Express Type 10 Mini (55mm x 84mm) CPU modules with four PCIe lanes configured as an x4 port for optimal performance.
- Current CPU Option – Intel Atom E3950 quad-core, 1×4 PCIe configuration, 1.6/2.0GHz (Turbo) , 4GB RAM, 12W.
- PCIe Switch – 9-port 12-lane PCIe Gen 2 switch expands the single host PCIe x4 port to 6 independent x1 ports (one for each AcroPack site and one for each Ethernet controller).
- Storage
- M.2 expansion for SATA III 6Gb/s devices. Supports 2242, 2260 and 2280 SSD Socket 2/3 (mechanical Key B/M) modules.
- Data and power SATA connectors for SATA III SSD
- Video – Mini DisplayPort output
- Audio – Realtek HD Audio CODEC with line IN / line OUT.
- Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) ports via 2x Intel i210 Gigabit Ethernet controllers.
- USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports
- Serial Communication – 2x UART (RX/TX) RS-232 signal levels.
- Expansion – 4x AcroPack / Mini PCIe slots for plug-in I/O modules including 2x isolated slots. Field I/O routed to 68-pin VHDCI connectors.
- Debugging
- 14-pin Xilinx JTAG header for programming and debugging FPGA AcroPack modules.
- 2-digit LED for debugging (displays BIOS POST codes).
- Power Supply
- 24-pin ATX power supply header OR
- 10-36V DC power supply via 3-pin terminal
- Carrier will auto-switch between power sources
- Dimensions – 170 x 170 mm (mini-ITX form factor)
- Weight – 189.9 grams
- Temperature Range – Operation: -40 to 85°C with 200 lfm (Linear Feet per Minute) airflow min.; storage: -55 to 125°C.
- Relative Humidity – 5 to 95% non-condensing.
- Shock – Designed to comply with IEC 60068-2-27. 30G, 11ms half-sine, 50G, 3mS half-sine, 18 shocks at 6 orientations for both test levels.
- Vibration
- Sinusoidal: Designed to comply with IEC 60068-2-6. 10-500Hz, 5G, 2 Hours/axis.
- Random: Designed to comply with IEC 60068-2-64. 10-500Hz, 5G-RMS, 2 Hours/axis.
- Certifications – CE compliant.
- Conformal coating available on request.
The ACEX4041 is said to be designed for defense, industrial, and mobile embedded computing systems for applications such as small form factor (SFF) test and measurement, data acquisition and control, communication, avionics simulation, and signal processing.
Acromag AcroPack Rugged mPCIe Modules
AcroPack modules snap to compatible carrier boards and do not require any cables.
There are currently over 25 AcroPack mini PCIe modules available with the following key options:
- Analog I/O – ADC / DAC modules
- Digital I/O – High-voltage, isolated, and TTL I/O
- FPGA I/O – Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA Module
- Communication – RS-232/RS-422/RS-485 serial, isolated CAN, Gigabit Ethernet, and MIL-STD-1553 serial data bus
- Counter/Timers – 6 to 10 32-bit timers
The company explains AcroPack series products require drivers specific to your selected operating system, and Acromag supports Linux, Windows, and VxWorks.
The video below shows how AcroPack modules are installed on a carrier board.
Pricing and Product Pages
Acromag targets embedded, industrial and military markets and the products are priced accordingly with ACEX4041 carrier board going for $1,595, a kit with the carrier board plus an Atom x5-E3950 module with 4GB for $2,695, and a “development lab” adding a panel, a 500GB M.2 module, and a 500GB 2.5″ SSD goes for $3,495. AcroPack modules’ pricing ranges from around $200 to over $1,000.
You’ll find more details, and purchase options on the respective product pages for the carrier board and mPCIe modules.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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